Vietnam sent over 45,860 guest workers overseas in the first six months of this year, representing a year-on-year increase of nearly 24 percent.

Vietnam’s major labour markets included Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

This was a positive signal in the context where more than 10,000 Vietnamese guest workers in Libya had to return home to escape from political instability.

Meanwhile, the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan exerted impacts on many Vietnamese guest workers and the Israeli government decided to halt its policy of receiving Vietnamese labourers from March, 2011.

To fulfill this year’s target of sending 87,000 Vietnamese workers overseas, apart from maintaining traditional markets, the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs was stepping up negotiations with the Israeli government to promptly complete a draft agreement on labour cooperation, reopening the market where a worker can carn 1,500 USD or average a month.

The department and the Japanese government were weighing a plan to send Vietnamese nurses and caregivers to Japan.

The department was also working with businesses and vocational schools to improve the quality of guest workers./.